


The Stories that Matter

by Georbear



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 11:16:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18893527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Georbear/pseuds/Georbear
Summary: How a little bit of logic and smarter decisions could have salvaged Game of Thrones..As Samwise Gamgee said the stories that last and matter are the ones that end well.





	The Stories that Matter

**Author's Note:**

> I hated season 8, especially the end. This is how a few smarter choices could have saved it in my opinion.

A story that matters  
I won’t go into great detail of every problem I had with this last season of Game of Thrones. I’ll just list two of my issues with it. 1.Sansa justifying her rape and torture as being necessary for her development into the Lady of Winterfell and eventually the Queen in the North. How Disney is ok with giving these writers a huge payday to make Star Wars in 2019 when they are pushing the idea that the only way for a woman to be a leader and grow up is by first being put in her place is disgusting and wrong. I know that people suffer from horrible things in real life and that everyone deals with it their own way but I’ll never be convinced that you get stronger by being victimized. Women and men who overcome trauma already had the strength with in them. Sansa had the strength and ability to become a true daughter of house Stark inside her. She didn’t need to be victimized to become someone worthy of her family's legacy. Number 2, they could have ended the show in a number of ways without making all the previous seasons meaningless. After this season I’m done with the show, I don’t think I’ll ever go back and rewatch it because what’s the point? When you have character arcs and journeys have no relation to how they act in the last season, really last 2 seasons how can you take them seriously? This should be studied by future writers of how you can undo all your previous work and good will and waste it in a span of really what 4 hours of screen time? The thing is they could have made this so much better with a few logical choices and having characters remain true to themselves. Here’s how, I’d love to hear your thoughts.  
Episode 3  
First brighten it up a little bit, realize that people will watch this show on phones and tablets, not just huge expensive displays that the editors use. Thus the director saying the brightness was fine. A little more consideration of who consumes your products goes a long way to keeping people happy.  
2- Have Jon make it to the Godswood just as Theon shoots his last arrow. Then have them fight back to back, a simple line of remember what Ser Rodrick taught us when fighting or Jon simply saying to Theon we’re stronger as a pack. Now Jon shows Theon he’s part of the family again. Then have them fight the White walkers while the night king stands back and watches. Jon kills two of them, keeps fighting against another two, Theon kills one and finds himself facing the night king, Theon still dies but he gets to interact with Jon before he dies. Jon then could be distracted by Theon death, which allows the walkers to knock Longclaw out of his hands (matches trailer and promo pictures). Then he gets thrown into the base of the weirwood tree. The night king approaches Bran, while the two white walkers approach Jon who’s stunned and can’t get up in time. Just as a walker is ready to stab Jon with a spear and the Night King is about to kill Bran, Arya comes in and saves the day. Arya still kills the Night King but Jon’s role is important in making it happen. It keeps him important to the story.  
Episode 4  
At the feast have Jon stop Dany from leaving the hall, have him wrap his arm around her waist and pull her into his side and start praising her to Tormund. Soon Tormund and others start to sing her praise as well, keeps up the themes of together by Jon and Dany and the whole we find our true friends on the battlefield. Later have Dany agree to stay while Rhaegal heals. She sends Tyrion Varys and Grey worm to make sure Dragonstone is secure. You could have a scene where Dany encourages Missandei to go with Grey worm to spend more time. Thus when Greyjoy ambushes them she feels guilty that Missandei is captured because she encourages her to go. While they’re gone Dany and Jon can meet with Jon’s sisters and discuss his parentage. Davos’s suggestion of a marriage is seen as the logical choice. You could show the wedding happen or just them decide it’ll happen but this episode is about Jon and Dany struggling with their parents legacies. Dany being haunted by her father, Jon coming to terms that Ned lied to him. I always thought he’d have a harder time understanding why Ned sent him to the wall, and would allow him to swear away his birthright without ever telling Jon what he was really giving up. That should be what Jon was most upset by. Not Dany being his aunt. Westeros is full of cousins and Uncles Aunts weddings. Ned’s parents were cousins I believe. The show should have given us more Stark sibling interaction, then end show with a raven arriving in winterfell saying Missandei was captured, Dany goes alone on Drogon to Kings Landing. You still end the episode with Missandei being killed by Cersei.  
Episode 5  
Varys still trys to poison Dany but make it clear they catch the little girl in the act. Jon arrives on Rhaegal goes and meets with Dany and comforts her, here she says that Jon is all she has left. The only one she loves who still is alive. Varys is brought down to the beach were they bring out the little girl who was working for Varys. Varys still executed in the same way but have Jon and Dany talk about what to do with the girl. Jon can bring up hanging Olly,(fuck Olly). But leave the fate of the little girl in the air. Now we don’t know if Dany is still in the right or if she executed a little girl. This brings back the whole shows theme of grey. No person is wholly good or bad everyone in the show has done both good things and bad things. (Another issue with the actual season they made Dany go full Hitler in the last episode. Not only is that never been her the previous 7 seasons and 3 episodes, but it goes against the show’s attempts of greying up it’s characters. To paraphrase never go full Hitler.) Dany and Jon attack the Iron fleet and the walls of KL together on two Dragons. Now it’s makes sense how overwhelming they are. Dany lands on one tower, Jon lands on another. Cersei orders her men to signal the city's surrender. Jon and Dany look at each other with smiles, they relax, they think they’ve won. Only Cersei has on more trick up her sleeve. It's a trap! Two scorpions hidden in the streets of KL suddenly get uncovered. Euron shoots one and Bronn shoots the other. Dany barely dodges hers. Euron though has a lucky shot, shoots Rhaegal threw the eye and he falls dead from the tower with Jon on his back. Dany then snaps, she thought the city surrendered but it was Cersei playing one last gamble to win, and she thinks Jon just died with Rhaegal. Now the burning of the entire city makes more sense. Now we spend the last week debating if it was justified or not. Cersei gets to stay in character by having a trick to try to win, she takes inspiration from Tywin and the Red wedding. Dany in a fit of rage because of heartbreak and being betrayed gives into her worse impulses. Far more inline with who she's been the entirety of the show. You still get the burning of KL and people will be angry in episode 6.  
Episode 6  
Here’s where I might have gone too Disney for people but you need to end this series and make people excited for the spinoffs if you’re HBO. Have Tyrion resign as hand in disgust people are scared of Daenerys for what she just did. Have her give an impassioned speech as she’s still under the impression that Jon died with Rhaegal. Then he appears and meets with her in the throne room. She is wracked with guilt when she sees him alive and realizes all the destruction she leveled on KL in her grief and anger. She can beg Jon to kill her before she hurts more people, Jon instead convinces her to give up the throne. He points out how much blood has been shed in pursuit of power and how the throne has corrupted so many before. Jon tells her perhaps they need to find a King who won't care about power and won’t be corrupted by it. She reaches for it, intense music plays, we don’t know what she’ll decide. Then she finally turns away and goes to Jon (like the vision she turns from the throne and finds her family.) Their theme plays as she has Drogon burn the throne and then Jon tells her to leave that he’ll find her. She flys off, now they could have had Jon pretend he killed her so people don’t hunt her down or he could say she left and will never return whatever they wanted.  
Now here is where I’ll admit my wish for a bittersweet ending might be more sweet than others. If they really wanted to end with Bran as King and Sansa ruling an independent North ok sure I think the Bran choice is utterly stupid but if D&D really wanted it so be it. Have Jon renounce his claim to the throne but announce himself as Jon Targaryen, to show that he has finally come to terms with his parentage. And show’s that he has decided he’s both a Stark and a Targaryen. Again we keep intact themes the show used last season. This keeps the show consistent and thus recognizable to us the fans.  
Finally the last scene in my mind would have played out like this. Opens on a fireplace burning then the camera pulls out to reveal a living room that's lived in. The most important things we see are a chest with three dragon eggs with candles burning around them and a baby sleeping in a bassinet. As the camera pulls out of the house we hear Arya asking Jon if he minds watching Nymeria, who we see laying next to ghost under a tree. He says it’s no bother as she comes and goes as she wishes, but she’s always welcome. Just like her human. Arya tells him she’s coming back and not to worry. Finally we see them hugging each other bye. Arya then goes to Jon’s side and says farewell to Daenerys. Dany then calls “Rhealla, Lyanna come hug your aunt goodbye. Two little girls age 3 come running over to hug her. Then Davos comes over to say goodbye and calls Jon your grace. Jon corrects him “It’s just Jon now.”  
Final shot of the show is Davos steering a ship out of a small bay, with an older woman by his side (that’s right Davos has his wife finally with him). We see Arya standing on the bow looking forwards to the west. Then suddenly she hears a roar and Drogon flies over the ship the camera follows him as he flies over the small bay to the small nice home. Something nice but not large. Jon and Dany watch him for a minute then tell their daughters it’s time for lunch, Jon and Dany walk hand in hand into the house. Jon closes the door to reveal its painted red. The camera pulls out as the Targaryen theme song plays until we see Drogon circling over the house. He gives one more roar and we go to credits with Game of thrones theme song playing. End of series.  
Now tell me that isn’t a much better way for season 8 to go. They still get every one of their stupid main plot points except Dany isn’t killed, she asks to be out of guilt. Everyone is more in character. I wish that D&D had someone on their staff who they’d listen to who could challenge their decisions, someone who cared about magic and the lore of the world the show inhabits. The final legacy of the series for me is an amazing show that fell victim to its own success. As the budget grew it became more of a spectacle and less a show driven by the characters.  
To everyone who worked on the show know that we appreciate all you accomplished. Truly the cinematography, special effects, sound track, music, sets costumes were unbelievable for a tv show to have. We stand in awe of all you accomplished. To the actors and actresses, we love you, the fact we care about this show and people like Jon and Daenerys and all the rest is because of you and your ability to bring them to life. To GRRM and D&D you guys came so close to having a masterpiece but either through your own arrogance and hubris, or laziness and checking out early you failed. You climbed so high up the proverbial mountain of praise and success that when you fell, you fell to the show’s ruin. We wanted to love this show, we cared about it’s rich history and world lore that it was based in. Your decision to end your show the way you did will always astound me. It was your right as the creators and show runners to finish your work the way you choose but it’s our right as its fans to be disappointed. After this season I think the way I think about this show will forever be best by paraphrasing something Daenerys said.  
Tonight I said goodbye to a show I thought I cared for. A show that entertained me and a fictional world that I thought I would miss. But in the end, watching episode 6 of season 8 I felt nothing. Just a desire for it to be over with.


End file.
